Winemaker Notes
Ruby in color, the wine displays a beautiful nose of wild blueberry and raspberry pie, violet, and savory spice. Silky tannins and medium body elegantly frame flavors of red raspberry, blueberry, malt, and tobacco that linger through the wine’s lengthy finish. The AVA Napa Valley blend of Cabernet Franc is great right now and will cellar well over the next ten years.
Blend: 60% Cabernet Franc, 23% Merlot, 11% Petit Verdot, 6% Malbec
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Made from 60% Cabernet Franc, 23% Merlot, and the rest Petit Verdot (and some Malbec), the 2015 Cabernet Franc Blend offers plenty of bang for the buck with its ripe, sexy, yet also pure and seamless style. Notes of tobacco, green herbs, white flowers, and a liquid violet character as well as loads of fruit all emerge from this value-priced effort that delivers the goods. Aged a full two years in 70% new French oak, it’s going to drink nicely for 15 years or more.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
St. Helena is in the heart of the Napa Valley, nestled between Calistoga to the north and Rutherford on its southern border. On its western side, the Mayacamas Mountains guard it from the cooling effects of the Pacific Ocean; to its east stand the Vaca Mountains. In conjunction, these mountain ranges serve to lock in summer daytime heat. But in the evening, cool air from the San Pablo Bay funnels up through the valley, creating very chilly nights. It isn’t uncommon for temperatures to drop 50 degrees, a shift that promotes a balance of sugar ripeness and acidity in wine grapes.
St. Helena contains a plethora of different soil types in a small area, which have been enhanced over centuries by rain runoff from both mountain ranges. Its vineyards cover a variety of terrain, spreading across the bucolic valley floor and its benchlands.
These ideal topographic and climatic growing conditions easily caught the attention of early winemaking pioneers. In fact, St. Helena is the birthplace of Napa Valley’s commercial wine industry. Dr. Crane founded his cellar in 1859, David Fulton in 1860 and Charles Krug in 1861.
Today there are no less than 400 separate vineyards planted within the 12,000 acres that make up the St. Helena appellation.
Revered most for its red wines based on Bordeaux varieties, namely Cabernet Sauvignon, the St. Helena appellation is also a source of superior Syrah, Zinfandel and Sauvignon blanc.